PRACTICE TIPS

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What would be a major victory for you today practice wise?

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What is that piece you keep ignoring?

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The yellow sticky paper theory.

 

Warm up with the scaleup exercises

 

Play straight through your favourite piece first so you feel good about approaching the piano.

 

Identify the easy bits and the hard bits of a new piece.

 

Play the hard bits very slowly many times.

 

If you play the hard bit correct three times in a row you are only just starting to learn it.

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Short ten minutes bursts practise each day can be better than a two hour session once a week.

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Are you old enough to be responsible for your own practice or do you only play when you are told to by mum or dad?

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Never put the lid on the piano

 

Never walk past the piano without playing something - even if it's just a few bars

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Put a family photo on your piano and pretend they are actually in the room listening - this can help you overcome nerves.

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Understand how your pieces are composed - what key are they in, the formal structure, who wrote it, why, etc

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Make your practice time the same time each day and stick to it.

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Understand that no one can make you a better piano player - only you can do that.

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Piano lessons are for learning new things - home is for practise.

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Pretend you are auditioning for a job as a professional musician - what is your best piece? Is it good enough. Would you get the job?

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Music lessons for school aged students are a triangle. There are three sides that keep the whole thing together.

Side 1 The parents who work hard to pay for your opportunity to learn a musical instrument

Side 2 The piano teacher who's job it is to give you quality information to get you playing

Side 3 You - who must hold up your end of the bargain by practising at home the things your learned in your lesson.

My suggestion is if you don't wish to practise, that's fine but you should pay for your own lessons out of your own pocket.

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If you find you're getting a knot in your stomach or cursing the piano because you can't get it right, then the number one reason why you are feeling this way is because ...and here it is, YOU ARE TRYING TO PLAY THE PIECE TOO FAST. Slow down!

 

People love to see other people using their hands to create - think chefs, sculptors, artists....and of course musicians.

 

When visitors come to your house and see a piano you can be assured that somene is going to ask you to play for them. You can either refuse (rather sad) or rise to the occasion. Playing for your friends and family.

 

When your first piece is a raging success they will shout "encore" - so have a backup piece ready as well. After that you can either carry on with some of your other tunes or simply say thanks for asking me to play - "that's it for now".

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